Cross-country steps up their game in Grand Junction

Looking to build their varsity ranks

It’s been about a year since the Crested Butte Titans cross-country team made the trip to the Anna Banana Wildcat Invitational in Grand Junction. They missed out on the meet last year but coach Austin Ross made sure they made the trip this season.
“We made it a priority to get in the race this year,” says Ross. “It’s a fun race and it’s fast and it’s a good warm-up for regionals. We definitely benefit from the lower altitude. It’s fun to watch the kids run fast with all of the extra oxygen.”
The team had two weeks of workouts leading up to the race. With several Titan runners down with illness, Ross used the first week to return his runners to health and the second week to get them back into the swing of things.
The workout regimen proved near perfect as the Titans thrived in Grand Junction, with a number of kids running close to or exceeding personal record times.
Aiden Truettner led the way for the Titans at the Anna Banana, placing third overall with a personal record time of 16 minutes, 29 seconds on the five-kilometer course.
“He had a really big race,” says Ross.
The course layout tends to force runners into a frantic dash off the start line as they try to establish position before the course gets tight.
Prior to the race, Truettner and his coaches opted out of the mad dash and decided to let him follow his own rhythm as the race progressed.
“We decided to play it by ear,” says Ross.
While Truettner was a bit off the lead pack after the first mile, he proceeded to pick people off through the second and third miles, working his way into the third place finish.
Conrad Truettner and Benjamin Swift put together strong efforts to finish in 70th and 75th overall while captain Joe Hayes was hampered by cramps and fought his way to a 95th-place finish.
“Conrad and Benjamin ran well but they could have gone out a little harder,” says Ross. “That’s something we’ve been working on. I want to see them reach for the next level while racing, I think they have more in them.”
Sam Crossett and Tara Mortell continue to be the lone representatives of the Titans girls’ cross-country team in varsity races. Crossett ran to a 48th-place finish with a time of 22:59 while Mortell finished in 51st place with a time of 23:55.
But the Anna Banana may be the last time they run alone at the varsity level as the girl JV runners had stellar showings in their race, led by Sierra D’Aquila and Bradley Santelli, and Ross believes they’re ready for the jump to varsity.
“This next weekend we’re going to look at fielding a full girls varsity team,” says Ross.
In addition, Ross may be pulling Vincent Michel up to the boy’s varsity race.
They will get their first test at the Chris Severy Invitational in Aspen this weekend. Ross hopes to push his runners for one more week before ramping down as they head to the Montrose Relays and regionals following the race in Aspen.
“It’ll be good to put in one more solid week and then taper after that,” says Ross.